ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy baseball head coach Paul Kostacopoulos announced on Wednesday the hiring of Bobby Applegate to fill the role as the team’s pitching coach. A veteran of the collegiate baseball ranks, Applegate joins the Navy baseball program after most recently serving on the staff at UC Riverside.

“It’s my great pleasure to welcome Bobby to the Navy baseball program,” said Kostacopoulos. “A constant professional throughout his career, we are very excited to have a coach of his caliber join our program. The pitching staffs at each of his stops have found great success and we can’t wait to have him start here at the Academy.”

Prior to joining Navy, Applegate served as an assistant coach, recruiting coordinator and, for a time following the retirement of Doug Smith, the interim head coach of the UC Riverside Highlander baseball program. A three-year member of the Highlanders, Applegate led a pitching staff that saw five hurlers join the professional ranks. In this past June, Jacob Smigelski (Miami Marlins, 13th) and Zach Varela (Los Angeles Angels, 23rd) and Dylan Stuart (Atlanta Braves, FA) all were drafted or signed as a free agent after three years of tutelage under Applegate. With the addition of Trevor Frank, a 2013 eighth round draftee of the Cleveland Indians, and Eddie Orozco, a 2012 22nd round pick of the Chicago Cubs, all five hurlers also were recognized on All-Big West teams during their careers at Riverside.

Besides his mentoring of the pitching staff, Applegate was also in charge of coordinating the recruiting, scheduling and alumni relation efforts of the Highlanders’ program.

Before heading west to UC Riverside in 2011, Applegate was an assistant coach at Brigham Young University for eight years. During his time with the Cougars his pitchers found both individual and group success as 16 different pitchers signed professional contracts and his staffs posted the two lowest team earned run averages in BYU’s history. In a conference known for explosive offensive numbers, the Cougars’ 2007 earned run average mark of 3.93 stands fifth all-time in the Mountain West Conference’s record book.

In addition to his work with pitchers, Applegate was responsible for the scheduling of all games, managing the travel budget, directing the program’s alumni relations and assisting with all facets of recruiting. For his work with the team, he was honored as the Assistant Coach of the Year by BYU Athletic Department in 2010.

A two-year stint as an associate scout for the Kansas City Royals from 2002 through 2003 served as a buffer for Applegate between BYU and his previous stop at the United States Air Force Academy. From 1998 until 2002, he was the pitching coach for the Falcons and guided Matt Kaercher, who became the first pitcher from the academy to sign a professional baseball contract. Applegate and his Air Force squad left its mark on the school’s record book with the most wins versus D1 opposition in 2002 and the second-lowest ERA since 1983 during the 2000 season. Six Falcons earned All-Conference accolades under his tutelage.

Applegate’s first collegiate coaching opportunity came in 1995 at his alma mater, the University of Southern Colorado (now known as Colorado State University-Pueblo). Between 1995 and 1997, he served as the school’s pitching coach and aided the 1996 team to a fourth place finish in the NCAA Division II College World Series.

Applegate began playing collegiately at Southwestern Community College in San Diego (1991-93) before transferring to the University of Southern Colorado. He completed a distinguished career in 1995 after earning accolades as the Colorado Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year (’95) and on the All-Mile High Intercollegiate team (’95). In recognition of his success as a player and a coach, Applegate was inducted into the USC Diamond of Fame in 1999.

After playing professionally for the Pueblo Bighorns of the Texas-Louisiana League during the summer of 1995, he returned to CSU and finished his kinesiology degree in 1996.

Applegate replaces Ryan Mau on the Navy staff after Mau was named the head coach of Longwood University in July.